Field of the Invention
The invention relates to networks of information about resources and appliances and more particularly, to a protocol or messaging architecture for managing resources used by an appliance.
Description of the Related Art
Household appliances typically operate on an article using one or more cycles of operation. Most appliances perform the cycles of operation using a resource. A resource comprises a product or good that is in relatively constant and unlimited supply. Common resources include utilities, such as water, electricity, air, gas, chemical additives, ingredients, ice, cooling air, chilled water, flavoring, steam, heat, or hot water. Sometimes a consumable, which comprises a finite supply of at least one product or a perishable good that must be periodically replenished or replaced is mixed with a resource, as for example, when a detergent is mixed with water.
It is known to provide communication between an appliance and a source of information about a resource in order to manage consumption of the resource by the appliance. For example, an in-home water meter provided by a utility company can send signals to an appliance to instruct the appliance to curtail water usage if the amount of water consumed by the appliance has exceeded a predetermined amount. This amount can be determined by the utility company in accordance with water demand in the region. However, the appliance is unable to efficiently manage resource consumption because these signals typically comprise only an “on” or “off” command rather than detailed information that could be used by the appliance to make predictions about future resource consumption and/or other determinations about resource consumption that could be used to increase the efficiency of the appliance.